Within the six visual elements of Art and Design there are two mathematical terms within these. Shape and Pattern. Shape being an area of mathematics and patterns being what we look for within mathematics to gain greater understanding.
Photography
Looking into Mathematics within the arts the first thing that came to mind was the clear presence of mathematics in photography. Mathematics is within the technical aspects and within the artistry of photography. The math in the technical side of the camera includes a lot of math as you need to have the perfect balance of, the lenses with the IOS and aperture in addition to speed of the camera. All these elements need to be set to the correct balance for the perfect photo. Within the Art of photography there are certain rules which should be followed to create the ideal photo these are the Rule of thirds, Balancing elements, Leading Lines, Symmetry and patterns.
The rule of thirds is splitting a photograph into three equal sections whether that be vertically or horizontally. During school, I studies higher photography and within my final project I decided to focus on portrait photography. The rule of thirds was something which we addressed throughout the topic however I felt this worked best with landscape photography. Therefore, when it came to looking for inspiration for my project I looked into David Brandt who liked to break the rule of thirds and use half’s and quarters in his photography. I feel the rule of thirds in portrait and landscape photography gives you a focal point to focus in on whereas the rule which Brandt used allowed the eye to explore the image as a whole.
Balancing elements looks at ensuring the photograph is balanced. This is done by ensuring an image doesn’t have the focus at one side of the image and the rest of the image is left blank. This shows the use of symmetry behind the main focus within the background to balance out the image. Therefore, if there is something in the front left of the image there should be something in the back right of the image to balance it out.
Leading lines within an image are usually parallel lines which focus the views eye onto a specific area of the image. Pattern within an image is used to make it interesting.
Looking into photography and art it is vital to have some understanding of mathematics to be successful whether that is recognising parallel lines, and patterns, being able to use math to set up the camera correctly or knowing fractions and how to split an image.